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Caleb Smith No Longer with the Football Team & Drew Clarkson Retires

Talented senior tight end Caleb Smith is no longer with the football program and promising guard Drew Clarkson will retire after undergoing his second cancer-related surgery.

By Marcus Russell
Ralph Freso/Getty Images

Caleb Smith, Oregon State's talented senior tight end is no longer with the football team and will not play for the Beavers this upcoming season. Sources told OregonLive.com on Wednesday. It is not known at this time why Smith is no longer with the program.

Smith at 6-foot-6 and 270-pounds has always been a promising pass-catcher for the Beavers. Despite all his potential he never fully lived up to his talents. Caleb Smith finishes his career at Oregon State with 48 catches for 573 yards and five touchdowns.

Gary Andersen seemed to high hopes for Caleb Smith last year and it seemed he would take on a big role for the offense but unfortunately his season was marred by injuries and he was only able to appear in two games for Oregon State.

With Caleb Smith gone, Oregon State currently has just one tight end on the roster in redshirt freshman Tuli Wily-Matagi. He is being backed up by Elu Aydon and Kalani Vakameilalo, who are defensive tackles.

Oregon State will most likely turn to the H-back position to fill the void left by Caleb Smith's departure. Ricky Ortiz is an experienced senior with good instincts and sophomore Noah Togiai had an impressive spring game and has been receiving a lot of praise from the coaching staff.

Offensive Lineman Drew Clarkson Retires

Oregon State received more unfortunate news on Wednesday when Drew Clarkson announced his retirement after his second cancer related surgery. Drew Clarkson was a three-star recruit from Camas high school in Oregon and was first diagnosed with testicular cancer when he was a junior in high school.

Clarkson battled back after his diagnosis and ended up starting a couple of games at guard for Oregon State last year as a redshirt freshman. But, this off-season required another cancer-related surgery and recovery took a toll on Clarkson.

Drew Clarkson is thankfully cancer-free today and is looking forward to starting the next chapter in his life. He will remain on scholarship at Oregon State and is working towards earning his degree.

Clarkson's decision to medically retire marks the third such announcement in the last week. Joining Damien Haskins & Leo Fuimaono.